


I'll Meet You Under the Eiffel Tower

by anglophileadventures



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Germany, Harriet is having a Sexual Awakening, High School, Travel, but mostly girls being fluffy and cute, girls loving girls, girls supporting girls, realizing she's into girls, soft girls, study abroad, with just a sprinkle of smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 15:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14979761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anglophileadventures/pseuds/anglophileadventures
Summary: Harriet's journey to realizing she's attracted to girls, and falling in love with her best friend Sonya.





	I'll Meet You Under the Eiffel Tower

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a really good discussion we had on the discord around the beginning of Pride about how some people take a little longer to realize they're not straight, and how amazing and affirming that self-discovery can be. So this is for everyone who just assumed they were straight for a large portion of their lives because that was all they saw in media, or because that was the supposed "default". Also a huge thank you to everyone who participated in that discussion, and to everyone who would have wanted to be there but they were sleeping because of stupid time zones <3

Looking back, Harriet wondered how it took her so long to realize she was attracted to girls. There were so many clues, so many friendships that with hindsight were obviously huge crushes; but then again, heteronormativity was a hell of a drug.

The first time she had a crush on a girl, she had never even heard of being gay. She was nine years old, and one day on the playground she saw the most beautiful girl in the whole world. Harriet thought she looked like an elf from Lord of the Rings. She didn’t know she had a crush, because she still thought a crush was only something between boys and girls, but she knew she very much wanted to be friends with this girl.

Her name was Teresa. They both were obsessed with Harry Potter, and talked about what they thought was going to happen in the next book for hours. Harriet joined her group of friends, and they played together on the playground during recess all year.

The next year, they had different recess times, so Harriet only saw her occasionally in the hallway, but she still thought she looked as beautiful as ever. And then, as luck would have it, they ended up sitting next to each other on the bus to that year’s field trip to the aquarium. Harriet had never felt so fortunate in her life. An entire hour, both ways, crammed into a seat with her. They had a staring contest and stared into each other’s eyes for minutes at a time, Harriet getting so lost in Teresa’s huge blue eyes that she didn’t even feel the need to blink. She felt like she was flying.

It was also the last time she spoke to her directly. She still saw her around sometimes at school, but they never seemed to strike up their old friendship again.

Before she started high school, her family moved, and she had to start over at a new school. The first year was difficult, but soon she had a new group of friends, and a new best friend named Brenda. By junior year, Harriet was convinced that Brenda was her soulmate. She could talk to her about anything; anxiety about school and applying to college, family troubles, which boys they had crushes on. But truth be told, none of the boys that Harriet had a crush on could even come close to the connection she had with Brenda.

One day in English class, they were doing a circle discussion of The Scarlet Letter, and as Brenda spoke up to make a point about the oppressiveness of the Puritan society, Harriet looked at her, and really saw her. She was leaning over her notes, looking down, and Harriet noticed her dark eyelashes, the faint tinge of pink in her cheeks, embarrassment at having to speak in front of the whole class. A piece of dark hair fluttered down into her eyes, and as she brushed it back behind her ear again, Harriet couldn’t help thinking, _she looks beautiful_. The thought seemed to pop into her head out of nowhere. In the same way, she found herself wondering how it would feel to reach out and take Brenda’s hand, without consciously deciding to think about it.

Harriet brushed the thoughts away, unconcerned. Brenda was her best friend; this was probably just a result of how close they were.

When they graduated high school, Harriet was valedictorian and Brenda was salutatorian, so they both made a speech, and then they got to sit next to each other during the rest of the ceremony, and they whispered and giggled the whole time. They spent nearly every day that summer together, full of excitement about their futures and enjoying the days of freedom before they both moved away for college.

The first semester of their freshman year, they skyped each other every Friday at the same time. Harriet even toyed with the idea of transferring to Brenda’s school, because she was having a hard time making friends at her school, and part of her was wishing she had branched out a bit more, gone somewhere farther from home, been a bit more adventurous.

The second semester, their schedules were different, and the same Friday afternoon time didn’t work as well. They missed more and more often, and even though they tried to make it up with facebook messaging and texting, it just wasn’t the same. Harriet hated the feeling of drifting away from her best friend, but there didn’t seem to be a way to stop it. They still met up now and then to catch up over the years, but they were never as close as they had been.

Meanwhile, Harriet tried to make more friends at her college. She was friendly with her roommate, Rachel, but Rachel was best friends with a girl named Beth. Beth was over in their dorm room a lot, because her roommate kept bringing guys back to their dorm room.

One afternoon, Harriet was attempting to take a nap after staying up too late doing homework and stumbling through her morning classes. Beth was in the room, waiting for Rachel to come back from an afternoon class.

By now, Harriet was used to sleeping in a room with other people, with lights on, with any number of things happening that normally would have been very distracting, so she didn’t particularly mind Beth being in the room while she took a nap. Except that this afternoon, for some reason, she couldn’t seem to get to sleep. She lay on her small bed, turning over or fidgeting restlessly every few minutes, but despite how exhausted she felt, her eyes refused to feel the slightest bit heavy. Maybe it had something to do with the caffeine; maybe that was why her heart seemed to be beating especially hard and fast.

Or maybe that had something to do with Beth, who was now standing over her bed, watching her. Strangely, Harriet wasn’t at all bothered by this, even though she felt that she should be. She also wasn’t bothered when Beth began to poke her, which was very odd, because she knew normally this would feel invasive and uncomfortable. In fact, she was so unbothered that when she turned lazily to swat at Beth’s arm, instead she decided to grab her and pull her down onto the bed with her. And then there was a body next to her, a very nice-looking and nice-feeling body, and Harriet was still exhausted so it didn’t feel strange at all that Beth was touching her in some very intimate places. Besides, it wasn’t weird because Harriet was touching her back.

She wasn’t sure who kissed first, but all of a sudden they were kissing and judging by the way her own body started to hum and tingle, Harriet was enjoying this very much. And she enjoyed it even more when Beth’s hand slid between her legs, stroking her through her shorts, and even through the layers of fabric her fingers evoked a buzzing in her skin that spread inside her, building a beautiful tension that somehow both hurt and felt incredible at the same time.

Harriet woke up extremely disoriented. She pushed herself up, looking with bleary eyes around the room, and saw Rachel and Beth sitting on Rachel’s bed and talking. Rachel asked apologetically if they had woken her, and Harriet shook her head no. She was getting up anyway, she said. She got out of bed and went to sit at her desk. While she was waiting for her laptop to start up, her mind returned to what had, apparently, been a dream. A dream about Beth. About kissing Beth, and touching Beth, and being touched by Beth.

_That was… unexpected._

Harriet felt odd and uncomfortable in her own skin. She felt wrong. This wasn’t her, this wasn’t what she wanted. Unsure what to think, or what it meant, or perhaps too afraid to consider what it meant, she pushed the dream as far down in her mind as it would go, determined never to think of it again.

The second semester of her sophomore year, Harriet did a study abroad semester in Germany. Here was her chance for adventure, her chance to explore and observe and _wander_. So far she hadn’t traveled far outside her home state, but now she had an opportunity to see a little more of the world, to try new things, to see what was out there, and possibly, if she were lucky, to stretch and grow herself, to learn. To discover not only in the outside world, but within herself as well.

As often happens when a group of people travel somewhere together, she soon became very close with her classmates who also went on the study abroad trip. She became especially close with a group of three other girls and a boy, who had all known each other before; Sonya, Miyoko, Ximera, and Aris. They all got along very well, and liked to travel on the weekends to various European destinations.

Together, over the course of the semester, they saw the Glockenspiel Clock Tower and visited the famous Hofbräuhaus in München, learned the history of the bridge in Remagen, climbed to the top of the Kölner Dom, took scenic pictures of the Neushwanstein Castle, hiked up to the Andechs monastery and tasted the beer, explored the ruins in the Eifel region, and saw more cathedrals and castles than they could count. Harriet took so many pictures, she had to come up with a whole new organization system for them on her laptop. Although she loved the pictures of the beautiful scenery and architecture, her favorites always ended up being the silly ones she took with her friends just to goof off.

From the beginning, she formed a special connection with Sonya. After knowing Sonya only a few weeks, Harriet already felt incredibly close to her. They just clicked right away, becoming fast friends. They studied together, explored the city, tried different German food. Sometimes they just stayed late at the building where their classes were taught to watch movies together. Sometimes Harriet had Sonya over at her host family’s home, and sometimes Sonya had Harriet over at her’s. Soon they were practically inseparable.

About two-thirds of the way through the semester, Miyoko had her birthday and had everyone over to her host family’s house to celebrate. Her host family’s house was a little farther from the city center, and they took the bus out, watching out the window as the buildings got farther and farther apart, interspersed with more and more greenery.

From the beginning of the party, Harriet felt slightly off; she wasn’t sure why, but even surrounded by friends she felt isolated and lonely. She was unusually quiet, contributing very little to the conversation. Sonya must have noticed, because during a moment when the others were all paying attention to something else, she came and sat next to her, leaning her shoulder into Harriet’s with a comforting familiarity.

“You okay?” she asked softly. “You’ve been quiet tonight.”

Harriet shrugged, uncertain how to put to words what she was feeling.

Sonya patted her arm. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Do you wanna go for a walk?” Harriet asked, squinting at Sonya hopefully.

Sonya smiled. “Of course.”

They walked for hours, all around the neighborhood, until it got too dark to see. The sun was setting behind the trees, making the luscious green look dark brown but tinged with gold at the edges. Harriet felt completely at peace, surrounded by nature; they could hear the occasional twitter of birdsong, and see the occasional squirrel running across the ground or up a tree trunk, bushy gray tail whipping behind. The air smelled fresh and clean, and if she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, she could just smell the grass and the few flowers pushing their way up, early heralds of the spring beginning to bloom around them.

They talked about their favorite books and movies and tv shows. They both loved Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings; Harriet loved medical shows like Grey’s Anatomy and House, Sonya loved reading Jane Austen and Arthur Conan Doyle and the Brontë sisters. Even though Harriet hadn’t read all the same books, and the ones she had read she wasn’t quite as in love with as Sonya was, she could listen to Sonya talk about them for hours. There was something so sweet and pure about the way Sonya’s eyes lit up when talking about these novels, about the way she believed so wholeheartedly in the concept of love and romance. It reminded Harriet of when she was younger and used to dream of having a grand romance of her own; she had lost touch with that fantasy over the years, but here and now, with Sonya, it seemed not only possible in general, but like something she herself could have, something that might be within her grasp.

Harriet told Sonya about her favorite tv show, Nikita. Sonya hadn’t seen it, so Harriet promised to watch it with her, and the expectation of all that time together, perhaps curled up on a couch somewhere, felt like something precious that she held close to her chest, something exquisite to be saved for later.

Somewhere along the way, they had started holding hands. They walked along, fingers laced together, chatting happily, and Harriet could feel a warm glow in her chest. The bad mood and the loneliness she had felt before were completely banished, and maybe it was the fact that they were in a foreign country, or that no one else was around, or just that she felt so perfectly and utterly at ease with Sonya, like Sonya was simply another piece of herself and when they were together everything snapped into place and felt so _right_ , but for once Harriet didn’t feel self-conscious or strange or wrong for feeling what she felt and wanting what she wanted. For once, she felt content to let herself enjoy this contact and intimacy and not psych herself out with second-guessing her own motives and desires.

It wasn’t until hours later, back in her bedroom and drifting off to sleep, that she let herself put words to the thought: _I think I might be falling in love with Sonya._ As much as she felt the rightness of the idea resonating in her, as much as she was drawn to Sonya, the thought still scared her. It wasn’t what she had always imagined for herself, or what had been expected for her, and she didn’t know how other people might react. As a little girl, imagining her grand romance, she had always assumed it would be a boy standing next to her. Everyone else, including her family, had probably assumed the same.

She didn’t want to care what other people thought; she had always tried to be one of those people who were completely and unapologetically themselves, and to hell with what anyone else thought. She knew changing or hiding an essential part of herself to meet other people’s expectations was no way for her to live.

But still. It was a frightening thing, to put yourself out there, to let the world see you and know that some percentage of it would disapprove or possibly reject you because of who you were. Then again, Harriet had never let fear determine how she lived her life before, and she wasn’t about to start now.

Maybe her grand romance wouldn’t look exactly how she imagined, but that didn’t mean it was any less meaningful or beautiful. Maybe some people would reject her because of who she was, but she couldn’t, she wouldn’t, change herself to suit those people.

She wanted Sonya. It was as simple as that. She was falling in love with her best friend, and she wanted to be with her.

The last week of the semester, they took a special class trip to Berlin. The days were filled with excursions, but the nights were their own to do whatever they wanted, as long as they showed up to the next day’s event.

The second to last night, they decided to all go out as a group, one last hurrah before going their separate ways for the summer, some of them heading back to the US and the drinking age limit of twenty-one. Harriet pretended the nerves she was feeling and the little bit of extra effort she put into getting ready had nothing to do with Sonya and the ridiculous hope that their last night out might provide the spark for something special to happen.

She and Sonya were sharing a hotel room. As they were getting ready, they drank a few glasses of wine here and there, not enough to be really drunk, but enough to give Harriet a little buzz and allow her to be just the tiniest bit less inhibited than usual.

Sonya came out from changing in the bathroom, and she looked so good in her tight black skirt and lacy top that Harriet immediately felt her heart give a small lurch, and she thought, _wow I’m really gay._

“Damn, girl! You look hot!” She could feel heat creeping across her cheeks, but Sonya didn’t seem to notice, smiling and looking slightly embarrassed but mostly pleased.

“Thanks,” she said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks as well. “You look really good, too.”

“Yeah?” Harriet grinned and twirled, showing off the low-cut back of her dress.

“Actually, I take that back, you look fucking amazing,” Sonya told her. Harriet beamed.

They sat on the floor by the full-length mirror, doing their makeup. “Can you do me a favor?” Sonya asked as she pinned up her hair. “Can you make sure I don’t get too drunk tonight? I have a feeling I might try to get completely toasted.”

“Of course I will,” Harriet answered. “Is there any particular reason you’re feeling that way?”

Sonya sighed. “I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my ex-girlfriend, and it’s kind of bumming me out. I really want to just forget about her and have a good time tonight, but I’m afraid I might overdo it.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Harriet said, struggling to keep her face carefully composed, while inside her stomach was twisting itself into knots and her brain wouldn’t stop screaming, _girlfriend! She said girlfriend!_ She mentally pulled herself together. Right now, Sonya needed her to be a friend first. “How long ago did you break up?”

“It’s been months now,” Sonya answered, waving her hand. “It was before this semester actually, but… I don’t know, I’ve had a hard time getting over her. She was my first girlfriend, and I thought she was special.” She laughed, but Harriet thought it sounded forced. “Sorry, you don’t want to hear my whole life story.”

Harriet put her arm around Sonya’s shoulders and squeezed, leaning into her. “Of course I do,” she said. “What are friends for? Obviously, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. But it seems like you kind of want to talk about it?”

“I think I do want to talk about it,” Sonya said hesitantly. “I haven’t really talked to anyone about it yet, because I didn’t feel ready, but I think I’m ready now.” Sonya took a deep breath, looking down at her lap. “She… she cheated on me. When I found out, I ended things, but I still feel like I’m the one who got dumped.” She looked up again, her eyes meeting Harriet’s in the mirror.

“Oh my god, what a horrible bitch!” Harriet exclaimed. “I don’t even know her but I hate her.” Sonya flashed a small, pained smile. “Seriously, anyone who would cheat on you must be out of their mind,” Harriet continued more seriously. “You’re gorgeous, and smart and funny and so much fun to be around. You’re amazing, and you deserve so much better than some lying piece of shit.” Sonya looked down at her lap again, a delicate pink tinge spreading across her cheeks. “Is any of this helping?” Harriet asked uncertainly.

“Yeah, it is, actually,” Sonya replied, her smile growing a fraction stronger. “I must be in the anger stage. At least I’m not moping around being miserable all the time anymore.”

Harriet hugged her again, using both arms this time, pulling her close. Sonya put her arms up to hug Harriet’s arm across her front, and leaned her head into Harriet’s chest. Harriet rested her cheek on the top of Sonya’s head, and she could smell her flowery shampoo.

They continued getting ready, chatting about more innocuous topics, but Harriet tried to keep a watchful eye on Sonya without being obvious about it. She felt suddenly very protective of her, determined to keep anything bad from happening to her if she could.

They arrived at the club. Harriet loved dancing; she loved the physical expression of it, the connection to the music, the emotion. And she loved dancing with Sonya, next to her in a circle with the others or facing her, the two of them on their own.

Watching Sonya move, Harriet couldn’t help thinking, _I can’t believe it took me this long to realize I like girls. I am really, really gay._ Taking a chance, her heart thudding painfully, Harriet slipped her hand into Sonya’s as they danced next to each other. Sonya turned to look at her, and Harriet held her hand loosely in case she wanted to let go, but instead Sonya held on even tighter. Her eyes burned into Harriet, who gazed back, feeling paralyzed, butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

Sonya took Harriet by the hand and pulled her over to slightly more private corner. She said something Harriet didn’t hear, so with her free hand she tapped her ear and leaned closer to Sonya. She had a brief second where she realized what was about to happen but she didn’t quite believe it, and then Sonya’s mouth was on hers, and Sonya’s arms were snaking around her waist, hands touching the bare skin of her back. Without thinking about what she was doing, Harriet found her hands had gone to Sonya’s face, to the back of her neck, and they kissed eagerly and hungrily. It felt like they had both been waiting for this, but they each needed a signal from the other, and now that they had it they dived in enthusiastically.

At least, that was what Harriet thought until Sonya pulled back slightly, then giggled in her ear. “This is crazy, right? It’s probably because we’re both drunk,” she said.

Harriet shook her head, her heart sinking. “I’m not drunk, I stopped drinking at the hotel.”

“Me too,” Sonya said, and when Harriet leaned back she could see the smile on Sonya’s lips. “I didn’t want to be a sloppy mess tonight, in case something happened.” Hope returned to Harriet’s heart, and she felt positively buoyant.

“I wanted to be sober to take care of you in case you were a sloppy mess,” Harriet laughed.

“So…” Sonya looked into her eyes, still smiling. “Neither of us are drunk.”

“Nope,” Harriet confirmed, leaning closer, so that their foreheads almost touched. “But I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I have a giant crush on you.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that when you kissed me back. And used tongue.” Sonya raised an eyebrow.

Harriet smirked. “I didn’t hear you objecting.”

“That’s because I didn’t,” Sonya answered, and closed the gap between them, their lips meeting once more. Harriet felt drunk on the taste of her, dizzy with the long-awaited fulfillment of her desire. When they parted for a moment, absorbing the moment and breathing each other in, she held Sonya’s face in her hands, stroking her cheek with her thumb, and the way Sonya smiled at her felt like being reborn.

Later, much later, back in their shared hotel room, Harriet and Sonya were stripped down to only their skin, and as they touched and explored each other further, Harriet marveled again at how right this felt, how the truth of it rang inside her and hummed in her bones.

Her body was responding in a way she had never felt before; her heart thrumming in her chest, a line of energy running through her core, a coiled tightness in her groin, and an almost aching buzz between her legs. She’d had some experience, but it had never made her feel quite like this. This, this overwhelming, intoxicating response, was entirely new.

Harriet had a good relationship with her body. She had always been strong, and she liked that about herself. (She didn’t necessarily look strong, but looks could be deceiving, and there was something to be said for taking advantage of the people who insisted on underestimating her.)

Being with Sonya transformed her. When they lay together, breast to breast, stomach to stomach, hip to hip, thigh to thigh, feeling Sonya writhe next to her and feeling her skin all along her own length, she felt her strength in a different way. She felt an ownership of herself and her own body and her own pleasure that was new and exciting. The way the curve of Sonya’s waist, the line of her rib cage, the softness of her breasts, felt under Harriet’s hands made her come alive, and feeling Sonya respond so readily to her touch, shifting under her, panting softly, spurred her on and lit a fire inside her. The feeling of their two bodies together felt right in a way that nothing else ever had.

Her hand moved between Sonya’s legs, her fingers exploring up and inside, probing the edges and folds, at first dry, but the more she stroked, fingers keeping a light touch, the more wet Sonya grew, and the more frequent her gasps as she arched back into the bed. As Harriet kissed her way down Sonya’s torso, between and under her breasts, down her stomach, past the mound of hair, and lower, Sonya moaned softly, fingers curling tightly into the sheets around them.

But when Harriet reached the place where the taste of her was more intense, more concentrated, Sonya fell almost completely silent, her mouth open in a silent paroxysm of pleasure. It wasn’t an unpleasant taste, and Harriet enjoyed the feeling of her tongue caressing those soft folds, almost as much as she enjoyed feeling Sonya buck her hips as she neared climax, her muscles taut beneath Harriet’s hands, her entire body spasming and trembling.

Harriet wasn’t sure how long they went, but when they were both fully satiated, they collapsed onto the bed, limbs tangled together, flushed and satisfied. Sonya lying peacefully next to her, Harriet indulged in the sense of bliss, lazily running her fingertips along skin, noting every imperfection, mapping freckles, tracing ghostly pale blue veins. She felt an incredible contentment throughout her entire body, every muscle feeling stretched and well-used, but now relishing the newfound tranquility. She was so relaxed she could have sunk right through the mattress, and she could already feel herself drifting off to sleep, but she clung to consciousness so she could stay in that perfect peaceful moment with Sonya a little while longer.

Stirring herself, Harriet turned on her side, wrapping her arms around Sonya and pulling her close. “So what happens next?” she asked.

“I think tomorrow we have one more excursion, and then the day after we’re free for the summer.” Sonya laughed. “You haven’t forgotten, have you? We had the whole trip to Paris planned. We already bought the train tickets and booked the hotel, you can’t back out now.”

“No, I mean,” Harriet said past the slight smile beginning to form on her lips, “I mean, what happens next, for us?”

Sonya tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow. “Did you listen to what I just said? I think we’re going to Paris.”

“You know what I mean,” Harriet protested, smiling in earnest now as she pushed Sonya’s shoulder mildly.

“Well, Paris isn’t called the city of love for nothing,” Sonya said. “We can go on our first official date, if you want? It could be really fun.”

“You mean this doesn’t count?” Harriet teased.

Sonya rolled her eyes. “No, it doesn’t count as an official date, and you know it.”

“You’re gonna make me pull out all the stops, huh?”

“It would be so romantic,” Sonya said, eyes shining. “We could splurge one night on a nice dinner. Drink champagne. Kiss under the Eiffel tower.”

“You’re adorable,” Harriet laughed, leaning forward to kiss her on the tip of her nose. She could feel the adoration radiating out of her as she gazed at the other girl, and she smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. Sonya fluttered her eyelashes bashfully, and on an impulse, Harriet leaned forward and kissed them too, one after the other, as Sonya giggled.

Sonya curled into Harriet’s chest, letting out a contented sigh, and Harriet stroked her hair gently, playing with the long blond strands, twirling them around her fingers. She knew with a deep, solid certainty that she wanted to keep doing this, keep being the two of them together, for as long as Sonya would let her.

“Ok,” she said quietly, and when Sonya moved her head to look up at her, their eyes met, and Harriet saw her whole world there. “It’s a date.”


End file.
